Entries by Jim Lindell

Being a positive person is a gift. If you do not have this gift naturally, then you must work hard to change your viewpoint from negative to positive. Let me provide a simple example. In the world of accounting in which I grew up, people often debate whether costs are variable or fixed. When costs are fixed, there is a good chance that they will be ignored because people believe they cannot impact fixed costs. However, we know that in the long run all costs are variable. This means that all of the decisions to incur any cost resulted from some choice at some point in time. Our personal lives are similar to this concept. We can look at situations as being happy situations or unhappy situations. Unfortunately many people choose to look at the unhappy situations as if they are fixed. Once they have deemed it as fixed or unhappy, they may choose to remain in the unhappy situation because they believe that it is unchangeable.

Our universe has a basic rule that for each negative there is a positive and vice versa. A coin has two sides: heads or tails. It is either night or day. Our attitudes, our outlook on life work in the exact same way. Decades ago there were management plaques hanging in the office that said, “Are you part of the problem or part of the solution?” The first stage in overcoming negativity is simply by changing your viewpoint. It is easy for us to dwell on the negative. It is hard work to look for the positive things. Can you remember the movie, “The Sound of Music” when Julie Andrews sang, “these are a few of my favorite things?” The concept of the song was to remember the happy or favorite things to help turn around your attitude. In the Bing Crosby film “White Christmas,” he sang the memorable song of “Counting my blessings.” As long as you have life, as long as you can move forward, you have a chance to emphasize the positive in life. By doing so you will enjoy life much more and you will find opportunities that you never believed that existed.

Copyright 2010 - Jim Lindell

Economy Like a 'Drunk That Keeps Drinking': Langone from http://www.cnbc.com/id/38837177

Langone also dismissed growing worries that the United States will slide into a second recession—chiefly because the banker doesn't believe the U.S. economy ever really recovered.

"It's not a double-dip—we never came out of it," Langone said. "We were artificially propped up."

This is part of the "New Normal" that is talked about in business circles. We are still in recession mode and it will continue for quite some time. In addition, our lack of constructive fixes will postpone the recession even farther. Welcome to the "New Normal" and it isn't pretty!

(c) 2010 - Jim Lindell

From http://cbs3.com/health/Health.Alert.Stephanie.2.1877150.html Stephanie Stahl

Teenagers are becoming addicted to texting, according to a new study. In fact experts are saying being hooked on texting can be like being addicted to drugs...

The average teen sends 3,000 texts a month....

"It clearly fits the criteria of an addiction," said Dr. Gary Small, a Psychiatrist....

Neuroimaging studies show the same brain areas are stimulated with both texting and using heroin....

Some texting addiction warning signs include losing track of time because of excessive texting, neglecting eating and sleeping, having a constant need for more, and suffering negative repercussions, like ignoring others or lying because of texting....

"What they like to do is text, rather than talk. So if you call them, they go 'mom why didn't you just text me, why did you have to call me?'" said Cara Steninberg, a mother.

In many of my blog entries, I have raised the concern for loss of focus. The obsession with texting will continue to erode our ability to focus and accomplish important tasks. This problem will continue to impact our workforce as a "texting" generation becomes the next wave of employees.

(c) 2010 - Jim Lindell

Understand the Economy for yourself. Don’t be over-reliant on the good opinion of other people. Many individuals are unaware of the free resources that are available to track economic trends. One of the best tools comes from the Federal Reserve at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g17/ipdisk/alltables.txt

The page shows the industrial production by industry for both seasonal and non-adjusted data. In essence, if you want to track a particular industry, there is no need to wait to read the information in a newspaper or a blog. Get the information for yourself and make your own interpretation. For example, the ship and boat building industry data (not seasonally adjusted) is presented as of July 2010 from the link previously referred to. Each of the columns represents monthly data. The data is also listed as IPS – Industrial Production Seasonally Adjusted or IPN - Industrial Production Not Seasonally Adjusted. The following information then is not seasonally adjusted. (Note: The series in the data is: Series ID, Year, Jan - Dec)

G3366: Ship and boat building boat building NAICS= 3366
IPN.G3366 1998 77.7154 76.4769 77.4417 73.0003 78.4545 77.2793 79.2277 79.9203 77.7161 83.1318 83.3754 85.0114
IPN.G3366 1999 81.2649 83.0248 84.2262 79.4988 80.0477 80.2212 79.1561 87.1829 86.567 86.5657 87.876 91.0407
IPN.G3366 2000 87.5872 90.1602 90.6017 89.0554 86.1863 87.6935 86.631 84.7939 79.8662 82.7261 86.2213 85.5277
IPN.G3366 2001 84.4292 80.6533 85.8832 81.4089 83.0756 82.7078 81.6635 78.0686 80.8324 82.0314 85.0271 86.2545
IPN.G3366 2002 86.5545 84.4315 91.5064 90.9403 93.6875 95.4739 83.8494 89.2274 95.6293 94.3411 91.5129 94.8692
IPN.G3366 2003 91.3116 90.6367 96.6679 92.4623 93.9838 95.8826 84.7913 91.7654 96.7991 95.0387 94.4247 92.2472
IPN.G3366 2004 92.0228 94.1356 104.9366 99.0401 98.7157 96.7238 86.1078 91.8224 96.2436 94.6853 90.7968 91.0349
IPN.G3366 2005 91.8575 96.3021 106.8692 103.1725 100.7357 99.1634 84.572 90.6338 84.0774 91.4369 90.2713 95.5123
IPN.G3366 2006 95.6029 93.4566 104.0523 95.1993 96.4354 100.6408 85.1382 87.9755 94.6969 92.6844 89.7758 95.5011
IPN.G3366 2007 97.0109 92.9683 96.9511 97.1001 101.4735 107.5809 92.3686 96.3188 105.7243 103.0968 102.5471 106.8595
IPN.G3366 2008 108.5889 107.712 112.3035 110.8724 105.2275 112.7792 97.1203 100.4989 97.2664 98.9122 92.4011 91.1939
IPN.G3366 2009 84.9463 78.9674 82.4338 77.0116 83.7825 90.1609 87.2618 90.0689 85.3314 77.3386 77.2099 78.595
IPN.G3366 2010 83.0853 83.7035 90.8107 90.9836 93.3699 92.5587 82.0928

If we were to graph out the data, our chart would look like the following:

It is easy to spot trends in the ship and boat building industry. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a significantly favorable trend and this industry will continue to experience difficult times. This observation also seems to parallel the other general economic evidence that the economy is not turning around.

This same analysis can be prepared for any industry and should be a regular component of an organization’s competitive intelligence gathering.

© 2010 – Jim Lindell

You think someone might remember that we are in tough economic times!

GM, Ford and Chrysler Sales All Lag Estimates
By Tim Higgins and David Welch - Aug 3, 2010
GM July Sales Rise 5.4%, Trailing Analysts’ Estimates

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- ... Ford reported U.S. sales in July that trailed analysts’ estimates as consumers concerned about the economy limited large purchases. Ford's adjusted sales fell 0.7 percent, trailing analysts’ estimates for a 10 percent gain. Its total sales climbed 3.1 percent. (Source: Bloomberg)

This past weekend I was catching up on some yard work and had to burn some old wood. As I threw wood into the fire, I noticed several insects flee from the heat on the edge of the board toward the cooler center of the board. Obviously, this path determined their final outcome. I also noticed a couple of grasshoppers that leapt off the board. One of them landed outside the fire ring and went on its’ way to safety. The relationship to today’s economy and business managers is easy to spot. Managers that take the path of least resistance and flee from danger may inadvertently seal the fate of their organization by failing to act. Nimble business managers that confront the problems that occur may experience difficulties but they will be taking action to salvage the situation.
Does your organization:

1) Confront problems or do you avoid them?
2) Have a process in place that forces you to take action?
3) Know how to “cut your losses?”

Remember, no decision is a decision. Step up and take your best action, right or wrong, you will determine your success or failure as opposed to having fate decide the outcome.

© 2010 Jim Lindell

Many individuals struggle with the issue of forgiving others but not being able to forget the original hurt. The above continuum shows 4 levels on the forgiveness scale (forget, recall, nurse, remember) and the relationship to healing or hurting. When the original hurt is constantly remembered, the pain does not disappear. When the individual’s memory has been triggered by an event that the original hurt is recalled, he/she has an option to either dismiss the memory or to relive it and in essence bring it back to life – re-experiencing much of the original pain. If the memory can be dismissed, the healing can continue. The original forgiveness takes place between the “recall” and the “nurse” stage. When an individual is able to truly forget the original hurt, the pain is eliminated and the healing is complete.

Many times you can identify what stage a person is in based on the way he/she describes the memory.

• Forget – “Oh, I don’t even remember that you did that.”
• Recall – “Yes, that is true but we were able to work it through.”
• Nurse – “That time that you called me a “blank”, it still eats at me.”
• Remember – “I forgave them, but I haven’t forgotten!”

The secret to moving along the continuum is the individual’s own freedom of choice. Victim thought patterns will keep a person at the remembering or hurting side of the continuum. Acceptance thought patterns will move a person toward the forgetting and the healing side of the continuum.

We cannot change the past, but we can change the future.

© 2010 Jim Lindell – Thorsten Consulting Group, Inc.

Why do I believe that we are sitting on top of a house of cards? Consider the following lunacy:

Excerpt from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/nyregion/12pension.html
ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson and legislative leaders have tentatively agreed to allow the state and municipalities to borrow nearly $6 billion to help them make their required annual payments to the state pension fund.

And, in classic budgetary sleight-of-hand, they will borrow the money to make the payments to the pension fund — from the same pension fund.

New York Plan Makes Fund Both Borrower and Lender
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: June 11, 2010

We do not have the courage to deal with current problems. We continually pass them off to a later date. Since we do not have the funds to pay for our expenses now, we believe that the problem will magically fix itself at a later date - unmitigated BS.

(c) 2010 Jim Lindell

From the Rasmussen Reports

Most Americans have “come to believe that the political system is broken, that most politicians are corrupt, and that neither major political party has the answers,” observes Scott Rasmussen. Just 27% believe Congress knows what it’s doing when it comes to the economy and 41% say that a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. In his new book, Scott adds, “Some of us are ready to give up and some of us are ready to scream a little louder. But all of us believe we can do better.”

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

Wayne Allen Root Perspective 5/23/2010
http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/america-faces-a-big--fat-greek-style-bankruptcy-94686509.html

The solution to save America from economic Armageddon? Simple. Use the same "austerity measures" imposed upon Greece, in return for this $145 billion loan, to dramatically cut spending on government employees:

-- Freeze government hiring for the next three years.

-- Eliminate bonuses and raises for the foreseeable future.

-- Institute layoffs and across the board wage cuts. Why should government employees enjoy "privileged status" that no employee in the private sector enjoys?

-- Change pensions from "defined benefit" to "defined contribution" pension plans, meaning retirees receive only what has been built up in their 401K type retirement accounts.

-- Raise the retirement age. In Greece it is going from age 53 to 67. Gold-plated pension plans are the single biggest factor that bankrupted Greece. The same problem bankrupted U.S. automakers GM and Chrysler.

-- Require government employees to pay more of their health care (through co-pays and deductibles).

-- Change the way pensions are calculated by eliminating overtime and raises in the last years of employment to "game the system."

Hat tip to http://thecynicaleconomist.com/ "The Cynical Economist.com"

Unbelievable. This clip is only 36 seconds but it is a must listen. Pelosi encourages musicians and writers to pursue their passion and to not worry about holding a job just to obtain health care coverage. The taxpayers will pay for them. This is an example of why our country is rudderless. Every citizen has a passion, be it sewing, cooking, softball, etc. Good, hardworking people should not have to cover the health care cost of able bodied people.

On the other hand, let's elect musicians and artists to congress. They will be more creative, they will be concerned for the entire country and they will give better performances than the lot that reside there now.

California wake up and elect someone worthy of being in congress.

Questions
If someone is an alcoholic – do you give them another bottle?
If someone is a drug addict – do you give them their favorite drug?
If someone is overweight – do you give them candy?
If someone can’t live within their budget – do you give them more money?
If someone is in debt over their head – do you give them more debt?

Comments

We have given money to companies that were too big to fail.

We have increased the size of government when private corporations have been forced to cutback on employees and expenditures.

We have increased national debt to a point that recovery may be impossible.

We have forgotten that value is created in the private sector not the government sector. The government sector exists to do one thing only and that is to serve the taxpayer – not the other way around.

We have unemployment (U-6) approaching 20% and some would suggest in excess of 20%. We have hired people in non-value adding jobs (many of them in the public sector) which are only temporary support to the overall economy.

Solutions
We need new solutions to old problems:
1. No tax increases – period.
2. Current level of government at all levels must be reduced by 10%.
3. Government expenditures must be limited as a % of GDP (% never to be increased or GDP never to be gamed).
4. Congress must be subject to any legislation that they pass for the taxpayers (pensions, social security, healthcare, etc.)
5. Lean processes must be implemented across all levels of government.

© 2010 – Jim Lindell

There is a gold mine in retired workers. The recession has significantly increased the unemployment level in the country. Many "older workers" have left positions but still maintain significant lifetime and industry experience. Businesses should seek out retired workers that still want to contribute. Their financial needs may be lower and their flexibility may be higher. This can also be a "win-win" situation for the retired worker as well.

They need to make up for lost retirement savings.

They want to be valued.

They want to have purpose.

They want to lead a longer life - yes a longer life! Workers that are unprepared for retirement will most likely have a shorter lifespan.

When I was traveling, I saw a program on NC public TV that discussed the concept of an "encore career." I think this is a wonderful concept and more emphasis should be placed on this idea. People will live longer, need more financial resources and want to have a quality retirement.

(c) 2010 - Jim Lindell

Too many people waste time due to interruptions by e-mail. Listen to the brief podcast and understand the impact of turning off your e-mail notification on both your ability to focus and your ability to become more efficient.



Copyright 2010 - Jim Lindell
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NBER Says ‘Premature’ to Declare End of Recession in U.S.

By Tim Homan

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- The committee responsible for determining when U.S. recessions begin and end said it’s “premature” to declare an end to the current slump, which it reaffirmed begain in December 2007.

“Although most indicators have turned up, the committee decided that the determination of the trough date on the basis of current data would be premature,” the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research said in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 12, 2010 07:50 EDT
(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQgDSuxGlHgU&pos=6)